Nine-ing 2015

As 2015 draws to a close, I thought I’d share some of my reflections and thoughts on the Singapore start-up ecosystem both as an entrepreneur and Head of the Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd's (IIPL) (the venture subsidiary of the IDA) fund.

So much happened in this space in 2015, just penning a few key initiatives and it’s clear how much we, as an ecosystem and at IIPL, have progressed:

1, Blk71 San Francisco opened in January

Following IIPL’s London office opening in Oct 2014, the San Francisco office bridges the market access gap for startups, helping them expand and break into new markets. The same applies for UK and US startups with expansion plans into Asia.

2. BASH (also affectionately known as Build Amazing Startups Here) was launched in February.

Singapore’s largest integrated startup space, BASH space saw the successful completion of nine acceleration programmes and almost 30 startups accelerated in 2015.

Event space at the Brewery of BASH

3. TAG.PASS, IIPL’s in-house pre-accelerator kick-started in May

TAG.PASS inaugurated its first batch in May and concluded its second batch in November. Over 20 teams were (pre)accelerated and about 40% of them received follow-on funding, grants and were accepted into acceleration or incubation programmes.

TAG.PASS Batch 1

4. Two new Accelerators were launched

In addition to JFDI which started in May 2014, StartUpBootCamp FinTech, the second accelerator, launched in May 2015 with a focus on fintech. SPH Plug and Play, a partnership between Singapore Press Holdings, California-headquartered Plug & Play and IIPL, was the first corporate accelerator launched in April 2015. Both accelerators successfully accelerated their first batch of startups in the year.

5. And most recently, the launch of the FinLab in November

IIPL’s first joint venture with UOB is an accelerator to spur innovation in the fintech space. The FinLab seeks out the region’s most innovative fintech startups, nurturing and grooming them to develop commercially viable products with the potential to scale globally.

Launch of The FinLab. To my left, Ms Janet Young, Head of Group Channels and Digitalisation, UOB.

6. Singapore hosted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP) in July.

As the first city in Asia to host MIT REAP, Singapore will showcase its innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem to teams from seven other cities, including London and Seoul as part of this programme.

7. Booming corporate innovation scene in Singapore

There’s been a burgeoning trend of corporates seeking collaborations with startups either through acceleration, incubation, investment or acquisition this year. IIPL also bolstered this space through partnerships with some 17 corporate partners such as Unilever Foundry, DBS Hotspot and Cisco just to name a few.

8. Clinic@BASH for startups in the ecosystem

Launched in October, this weekly morning Clinic@BASH session saw 23 startups in a mere 1.5 months. Startups visited for diagnoses, prognoses or simply advice on how or where to proceed from where they are. There’s evidently much room for mentorship to take place and startups in the space to make use of such a service.

 9. Global partnerships benefitting startups

Two international partnerships were inked with Barcelona and Sri Lanka, both open up exchange opportunities for Singapore-based startups to either of these partner countries.    

Mr Augsti Colom, Councillor for Employment, Enterprise and Tourism of Barcelona City Council and myself after signing the Statement of Cooperation in Barcelona.

2015 has truly been a whirlwind of activities, emotions and hours on hours of hard work. My team and I, we plan to keep this momentum going and stretch the limits even, if possible. I believe our ecosystem still has yet to fulfil its potential, 2016 is therefore an exciting time to keep a keen eye on. I don’t know about you, but I for one am counting down to 2016 with eager anticipation.   

For more, follow me on Twitter @alex_iipl